On Tuesday, the US expressed concern over the COVID surge again in Beijing.  Cities all around China have started to set up hospital beds and construct fever-screening facilities on priority basis.

After two COVID-related deaths on Monday, the first in several weeks, Beijing announced five more on Tuesday. China has only reported 5,242 COVID fatalities in total, a reasonably low toll by international standards, since the pandemic first appeared in the central city of Wuhan in late 2019.

According to some health experts, more than 2 million people might die, and 60% of China′s population, or 10% of the world′s population, could get infected in the upcoming months.

Beijing has become the primary infectious hot spot. Security guards were stationed at the door of a COVID-19 crematorium in the nation′s capital. Second to Beijing stands Shanghai, where streets were more deserted, and metro trains were barely half full.

Cities are stepping up their efforts to increase the number of intensive care hospitals and other facilities for severe COVID cases. Major cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, and Wenzhou announced last week about adding hundreds of fever clinics, some of which were housed in repurposed sports facilities.

(Source: https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/china-races-install-hospital-beds-covid-surge-sparks-concern-abroad-2022-12-20/ )